An exploration of the drivers of private tutoring in Egypt

The rise of private tutoring globally has raised concerns over the hidden costs of “free” education systems and how these costs contribute to the persistence of inequality. We examine the drivers of tutoring at different levels of education in Egypt in an effort to understand why private tutoring has expanded despite policy efforts to prevent its spread. We use nationally representative survey data and qualitative data on youth experiences in public, private, and religious schools. Our findings indicate that the drivers of tutoring are multiple and vary by schooling level. Structured around high-stakes exams, the Egyptian education system has fostered the growth of a diverse tutoring market. In general secondary school, tutoring has become so widespread that teachers and students shirk in school to devote more attention to tutoring. Structural factors and the expectation that students will engage in tutoring have thus become self-reinforcing. In basic education, teacher pressure is a major motivation for public school students to take tutoring. Given the failure of Egypt’s efforts to ban and create alternatives to tutoring, there is an urgent need to test mechanisms for ensuring accountability in schools.